Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Each morning you shower, dress, have your coffee and breakfast, then drive to work, where you use computers or some other kind of electrically-powered machine, then drive home and enjoy your dinner in a well-heated or air-conditioned home abundantly lit in the evening darkness. You do this day in and day out, and at the end of a year, you have disgorged into the atmosphere 9 tons of carbon.

Yes, the average US citizen emits nine tons per year of the most dangerous pollutant on Earth – the carbon contained in greenhouse gases, primarily CO2. Hurricane Katrina and last summer’s crop-killing record-setting heat wave are harbingers of worse climactic disasters to come. The clock is ticking. We must change the way we live and move towards a world of electric cars and buses powered by windmills and other sustainable energy sources. But the number one cause of greenhouse gas accumulation is not our cars or power plants. It is deforestation – the loss of our forests, which have the magical power to sequester carbon, to take it out of the atmosphere and put it safely into plant biomass and the soil.

And that’s where mangroves ﬁt into the picture as surely as do electric cars and windmills, because mangrove forests can sequester three to ﬁve times more carbon per hectare than tropical rainforests, as much as 15 tons per hectare every year.

But the world has already lost half its mangroves, and more are lost each year to shrimp farming and developers’ bulldozers. This destruction must stop, the surviving mangroves must be preserved, and where they have been destroyed they must be restored.

The Mangrove Action Project (MAP) is at the forefront of this work so vital to our planet’s survival. Our projects conserve and restore mangroves, and educate and empower coastal peoples to steward and draw sustainable livelihoods from their mangrove forests. Today, MAP is undertaking an increasing program load involving mangrove restoration in Asia, Latin America and soon Africa as well. However, at a time when our work is so desperately needed, we ﬁnd ourselves needing funds to expand our work to a new higher level. We need your help.

So we are calling on our members and friends to donate to MAP today. Because one thousand dollars - $1,000 –restores a hectare of mangroves, a contribution of $600 can offset your yearly 9 ton contribution to global disaster. Even a modest $50 can offset your carbon emissions for a month. With this money MAP can expand its work into new countries and preserve and restore hundreds and eventually thousands of hectares of the unsung heroes of the battle against climate change- the marvelous mangroves.

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Documentary film on motivation of the protesters to join the Phulbari movementVIEW NOW

Save the Wetlands of North Bengal: During the 1970s and 80s, a huge number of natural wetlands were filled in for development as people migrated from the newly independent Bangladesh. They still are disappearing and scientists predict that they will all be gone by 2030 unless action is taken. Bengali Mangrove Petition

MANGROVE ISSUES

MANGROVE BOOK – J. Primavera
The book Beach Forests and Mangrove Associates in the Philippines by J.H. Pimavera and R.B. Sadaba (ISBN 978-971-9931-01-0; National Library CIP QK938.C6 581.75109599 2012 P220120602) is now available. aves, flowers, fruits, utilization and silviculture.SEE POSTER and order instructions

View MAP’s uploaded Videos at MAPmangrover’sChannel“Education In The Mangroves" can now be seen on the PhotoPhilanthropy websitehere!

Learn more about the affects of the shrimp industry on mangroves by visiting our blogEditor’s Note: Mangrove Action Project’s Executive Director, Alfrodo Quarto was interviewed about shrimp by Green Acre Radio’s Martha BaskinLISTEN TO INTERVIEWJoin MAP on FacebookSign the Consumer's Pledge to avoid imported shrimpNot yet a MAP News subscriber?
Click here to subscribe. Note to Our Readers:We strive to keep active links in our newsletter. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, occassionally links to stories may become broken. If you find a link to a story is not functioning, please cut and paste the headline into your browser search bar. In most cases you should be able to locate the original story.

FEATURED STORYEditors note: While it is encouraging to hear supportive arguments from world leaders regarding protection of mangroves, which MAP has been proclaiming for over twenty years now, it is important to present the facts carefully. Please be sure to read our LAST WORD in this issue.Mangroves under threat from shrimp farms: U.N.
NORWAY - Valuable mangrove forests that protect coastlines, sustain sealife and help slow climate change are being wrecked by the spread of shrimp and fish farms, a U.N.-backed study showed on Wednesday. About a fifth of mangroves worldwide have been lost since 1980, mostly because of clearance to make way for the farms which often get choked with waste, antibiotics and fertilizers, according to the study. Intact mangroves were almost always more valuable than shrimp farms, said its authors, who drew on forestry and conservation expertise from several U.N. organizations. Mangroves - trees and shrubs that grow in salty coastal sediment - can be found in 123 nations in the tropics and sub-tropics and cover an area slightly larger than Nepal. They are nurseries for wild fish stocks, sources of wood for building and serve as buffers to storm surges. They absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas from burning of fossil fuels, and store it in their roots. And their growth can help counteract the effects of rising sea levels as it elevates coastlines. "There is an opportunity for many countries to go for restoration of mangroves," Hanneke Van Lavieren, lead author of the study at the U.N. University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNWEH), told Reuters. "Mangroves can be seen as a key ecosystem for food security in the world," she said. READ MORE

AFRICA

Disquiet Over Lamu Port Project
KENYA – A fledgling project to build a huge new port, oil refinery and transport hub on Kenya's northern coastline promises to deliver thousands of jobs and is a pillar of the government's long-term development agenda. But critics fear the project will displace tens of thousands of people in Lamu District, exacerbate decades of marginalization, degrade marine environments essential to local livelihoods and increase the risk of conflict as the country gears up for elections in March 2013. "This project will displace many people from their homes... yet the government is not very clear on what plans they have for those who will be displaced," Abubakar-Al Amudi, chairperson of Save Lamu, a coalition of organizations dedicated to saving the Lamu Archipelago from environmental destruction, told IRIN. READ MORE

ASIA

MAP-Asia Participants in China Mangrove Workshop
CHINA – Jim Enright, MAP-Asia’s Coordinator, recently attended a “Regional Workshop on Catalyzing Incentives for Sustainable Management and Restoration of Mangroves in Asia and the Pacific”, Oct.29-31, 2012 held in the coastal city of Beihai, in the south part of Guangxi, China. The workshop was sponsored and organized by Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet) based in Beijing, China which is an initiative of APEC economies launched in 2008 to enhance capacity building and information exchange in the forestry sector in the region. This was the first opportunity for MAP to meet and dialogue with APFNet which adds to our regional network. The workshop was by co-sponsored by IUCN, PEMSEA, ITTO, TNC and WWF. Workshop participants came from China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Germany, UK, and Mexico. READ MORE

Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve functions
CHINA - Covering four counties (cities) and four districts, Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve (ZMNNR) situates at the southernmost tip of Mainland China on the Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong Province. ZMNNR had a total area of 20278.8 ha, 9200 ha of which were covered by mangroves and accounted for 78% of all mangrove areas in Guangdong province and 33% of the national total. It was a nature reserve with largest mangrove area with a rich biodiversity in the mainland China. An inclusion into the Ramsar list in January 2002 enabled the reserve to become an internationally important area in protecting biodiversity and ecosystem. In 2006 the reserve was appointed as a national demonstration reserve. There were 51 demonstration reserves in the whole China, 2 of which were located in Guangdong province. In August 2012, ZMNNR was included into MAB (Man and Biosphere, China) to become a member of the MAB (China) Network The greatest result achieved by ZMNNR since its establishment is the almost-stop of deforestation for the purpose of shrimp and fish farming due to its legal enforcement and patrolling. Three levels of resource management system “headquarter-field station-protection plot” were set up. Resource management was enhanced further with an establishment of a mangrove police station by the reserve in early 2012. READ MORE

China prohibits fresh shrimp imports from Vietnam
VIETNAM - Vietnamese officials have been astonished with the information that China has prohibited to import fresh shrimp from Vietnam. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has requested its belonging agencies to clarify why China has released the decision to prohibit importing fresh shrimp from Vietnam. No state management agency had been informed about the news until a seafood company sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), informing that it could not export shrimp to China. An official of MOIT said the information came from Tuong Huu Company headquartered in Tan Phu district of HCM City. “At first, we thought that China only temporarily stopped importing products from Tuong Huu only. However, later, the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam has confirmed that the ban would be applied to all fresh seafood products from Vietnam,” he said. The Chinese side informed that there are three main reasons that prompt its competent agencies to stop importing shrimp from Vietnam. READ MORE

River elegy :Laos admits work is going ahead on a controversial dam
LAOS - THE Mekong river, snaking its way through the heart of South-East Asia, has long sustained the world’s biggest and most productive inland fishery, supplying protein for around 65m mainly poor people from four riparian countries, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. But scientists warn that this ecosystem is gravely threatened by the Lao government’s rush to exploit its water resources, egged on by Thai, Chinese and European energy companies. The decision by Laos to push ahead with the giant Xayaburi dam makes it the first of what could prove to be a cascade of 11 proposed dams on the lower Mekong. Because the decision fails to take account of the consequences for downstream countries, it has raised tensions with neighbours. Having long pretended otherwise, the Lao government recently asserted that construction was forging ahead, and indeed was on schedule. That prompted a warning from the president of Vietnam, Truong Tan Sang, that “tensions over water resources are not only threatening economic growth in many countries, but also presenting a source of conflict”. READ MORE

Communities want to manage mangrove forest
INDONESIA - Kadek Bobby Susila has been actively taking part in demonstrations by an environmental NGO to oppose the Bali administration giving rights to a private company to manage a mangrove forest. The 28-year-old is the only resident of Suwung Kauh — where the mangrove forest is located, who has joined the protest. Bobby wished the mangrove forest could be managed by local communities like other natural tourist sites, such as Tanah Lot in Tabanan, the Monkey Forest in Ubud, or the mangrove forest in Jungut Batu, Nusa Ceningan. “But the local community here don’t understand how to manage it,” he said sadly. He joined the protest of his own accord because he had learned from personal experience about the importance of preserving mangroves to protect the environment. READ MORE

Phulbari braces for shutdown
BANGLADESH - The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, and Power and Ports on Friday will enforce a daylong general strike in Phulbari on Saturday after authorities prevented it from staging protests. Leaders of the committee announced the fresh agitation programme from a meeting at Nimtoli intersection at Phulbari ignoring the ban the administration had imposed on public gatherings in the area. The indefinite embargo was slapped just before the committee was supposed to stage demonstrations against an order of the Ministry of Home Affairs for assisting British company Asia Energy. The committee has been protesting against open-pit coal mining in the district, and demanding implementation of the 2006 Phulbari deal. READ MORE

AMERICAS

Mangrove conversion takes huge environmental toll
USA - Conversion of mangrove forests is taking a huge toll on coastal ecosystems, an international team of researchers said, warning that replacing tidal forest with shrimp farms and other forms of development is a bad economic tradeoff both short and long-term. “The benefits of this industry have too often been short lived due to poor planning with ponds being abandoned when pollution or disease take hold, leaving unproductive saline pools and depleted coastal fisheries,” said Hanneke Van Lavieren, a United Nations University scientist who was the lead author of the recent policy brief. “Such large-scale conversion has had major negative environmental impacts, including collapses in wild fisheries. In a region where fishing in and around mangroves is a critical activity providing food and income for millions of people, the socio-economic impacts of this conversion have been tremendous,” said Van Laviere, the coastal zones program officer at UNU’s Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health. “There is now a growing awareness of the importance of mangroves and government and community-led efforts are under way to restore or replant mangroves, and to improve legal systems to regulate future use,” she added. READ MORE

EUROPE

Erasmus Mundus Masters Program in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems
BELGIUM - Laboratory of Systems Ecology and Resource Management at Université Libre de Bruxelles announced the official launch of the the Erasmus Mundus Masters Program in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems – TROPIMUNDO and of its online Information and Application Module. This is a unique international Masters program with mobility to two European countries and an entire semester in the tropics focusing on rainforests and wetlands, mangrove forests or coral reefs. The European Commission provides a limited number of full scholarships. Multiple specialisations are included. TROPIMUNDO students will be able to concentrate on botany, zoology and integrative ecosystem approaches. Specialisation is possible on the evolution of tropical flora and vegetation, on faunistic assemblages, on informatics tools to treat and manage biodiversity data and databases (biogeographical, genetical, geographical information systems), and more. READ MORE

LAST WORD

Reaction to Our Lead Story
Regarding the assertion "Countries such as Australia and Brazil had been good at preserving their mangroves while nations including Indonesia, China and Vietnam had lost big tracts and projects to restore them needed more support" found in your article Mangroves Under Threat From Shrimp Farms, this is NOT true, at least for Brazil. Through recent amendments (May 2012) to the Brazilian Forest Code, our government has just a granted shrimp industry with up to 35% of our mangroves (please see enclosed refs) to be converted into ponds. Brazil shelters the 2nd - 3rd largest mangrove area in the world and such acts represent a threat for climate mitigation policies and international agreements.

Additionally, we did nothing to restore our coastal wetlands. A recent review on mangrove restoration revealed that if all efforts had worked out one hundred percent (which did not happen), we therefore would have restored between 1994 (first planting) and 2012 an area equivalent to two and a half soccer fields!!

As you can see, Brazil is very far away form being a role model in wetlands management.

REF 2 - Protecting Brazil’s Coastal Wetlands - SCIENCE VOL 335 30 MARCH 2012~ If you’d like to have the last word on this or any other mangrove related topic, please send us your submission for upcoming newsletters. We’ll choose one per issue to have “the last word”. While we can’t promise to publish everyone’s letter, we do encourage anyone to post comments on our Blog at www. mangroveactionproject.blogspot.com

Not yet a subscriber?Click here to subscribe. Please cut and paste these news alerts/ action alerts on to your own lists and contacts. Help us spread the word and further generate letters of concern, as this can make a big difference in helping to halt a wrongdoing or encourage correct action.

Jim Enright, MAP-Asia’s
Coordinator, recently attended a“Regional Workshop on
Catalyzing Incentives for Sustainable Management and Restoration of Mangroves
in Asia and the Pacific”, Oct.29-31, 2012 held in the
coastal city of Beihai, in the south part of Guangxi, China.The workshop was sponsored and organized by
Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet) based in Beijing,
China which is
an initiative of APEC economies launched in 2008 to enhance capacity building
and information exchange in the forestry sector in the region.This was the first opportunity for MAP to
meet and dialogue with APFNet which adds to our regional network.The workshop was by co-sponsored by IUCN,
PEMSEA, ITTO, TNC and WWF.Workshop
participants came from China,
Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand,
Vietnam, Germany, UK,
and Mexico.

Jim
presented on “MAP’s Experience Using Ecological Mangrove
Restoration:Re-establishing a more biodiverse and resilient
coastal ecosystem with community participation” The presentation was well
received and for many participants the EMR methodology was very new as most
projects involve the use of plantations and afforestation on the extensive
mudflats in China. There is not a great deal of mangrove forest habitat
remaining in China,
and presently less than 23,000 ha.During
the 1980s shrimp farming was the cause of 97% of mangrove loss.

The
final day of the workshop was a field trip which was organized and facilitated
by the Guangxi Mangrove Research Center (GMRC).The field trip included visits to GMRC, to the new city of Fangchenggang
under construction where a few ha of a dense stand of mangroves have been
conserved and incorporated the Marine Cultural Park, as a result of a lot of
lobbying and protesting by environmental activists.The highlight of the trip was to see a new
concept called Mangrove Eco-farming at the Beilun Estuary Nature Reserve which
involves an underground piped water system.The first trails of this unique eco-farming system were undertaken by
GMRC in 2007-08 to raise fish, clams and crabs.The system is quite expensive with the infrastructure costing between $19,000-28,000
per ha. The benefits are the system uses native species, no artificial feeding,
has high survival rate of animals, a high recapture rate with a higher economic
return from 750~1125kg/ha/year of seafood.The eco-farming system would probably only be applicable in China where the mangroves are sparse and allows
for the excavation to install the piping without damaging the mangrove roots
and China
has a high end market for local fresh seafood.

Figure 2:
Unique Eco-farming system developed by GMRC

The workshop also presented
an opportunity for MAP-Asia to meet partners PMCR from Cambodia and MSN of
Myanmar and representatives from groups in China who have had some past communications
with MAP over the years, including representatives from the Zhanjiang Mangrove
National Nature Reserve (ZMNNR)
of Guangdong Province and China Mangrove Conservation Network (CMCN) based at Xiamen University,
Fujian.MAP’s Education Director,
Martin Keeley, is now in the process of working with ZMNNR to have the
Marvelous Mangrove Curriculum introduced into the school system in area of the
reserve and has plans to give a training workshop for CMCN at Xiamen
in Dec. 2012. The APFNet workshop was
also a great opportunity for MAP-Asia to make a number of new contracts.

Jim was surprised and happy
to meet Dr. Weidong Han, Professor at Zhanjiang Ocean
University at the
workshop.Dr. Han had hosted MAP’s
Executive Director, Alfredo Quarto and Jim on their first exposure visit to the
mangroves of the Leizhou Peninsula, Guangdong
in 2003.

Figure 3: A
happy reunion between Jim Enright of MAP and Dr. Weidong Han of Ocean University,
after almost a decade.

Covering
four counties (cities) and four districts, Zhanjiang Mangrove National
Nature Reserve (ZMNNR) situates at the southernmost tip of Mainland
China on the Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong Province. ZMNNR had a total
area of 20278.8 ha, 9200 ha of which were covered by mangroves and
accounted for 78% of all mangrove areas in Guangdong province and 33% of
the national total. It was a nature reserve with largest mangrove area
with a rich biodiversity in the mainland China. An inclusion into the
Ramsar list in January 2002 enabled the reserve to become an
internationally important area in protecting biodiversity and ecosystem.
In 2006 the reserve was appointed as a national demonstration reserve.
There were 51 demonstration reserves in the whole China, 2 of which were
located in Guangdong province. In August 2012, ZMNNR was included into
MAB (Man and Biosphere, China) to become a member of the MAB (China)
Network.

Achievement gained by ZMNNR

The
greatest result achieved by ZMNNR since its establishment is the
almost-stop of deforestation for the purpose of shrimp and fish farming
due to its legal enforcement and patrolling. Three levels of resource
management system “headquarter-field station-protection plot” were set
up. Resource management was enhanced further with an establishment of a
mangrove police station by the reserve in early 2012.

Natural
resource was increased greatly. For instance, the resource survey in
2002 and 2009 separately recorded 7,256 ha mangroves and 9,200 ha
mangroves. It showed the mangrove area of the reserve has increased. In
addition, the waterbird survey conducted by ZMNNR for 10 years in a row
showed that the population and species of birds in the reserve were kept
increased. The surveys carried out in the fixed observation points in
2002, 2008 and 2010 separately recorded 908 birds, 2377 birds and 5319
birds.

Plantation

Mangrove
resources were restored with contributions from government input etc.
Until now, the reserve has successfully planted about 1500 ha, which
helped the mangrove area of ZMNNR increase to 9200 ha from 5800 ha in
1985. Now the planted mangroves have played a great role in dyke
protection and biodiversity maintenance.

Plantation aims to increase the reserve's area of
mangroves

Resource monitoring

Since
2001, cooperated with 5 universities or research institutes, ZMNNR has
carried out the following six inventories including mangrove inventory,
fish and shellfish inventory, bird survey, social economic survey of
community etc. The survey on mangrove plantation was done by the reserve
itself.

In
2009 ZMNNR became the first nature reserve in Guangdong having GIS
system built completely by the reserve’s technicians. ZMNNR also
established a long-distance resource real-time monitoring system for
important mangrove areas.

Environmental education

ZMNRN
carried out the environmental education in an active way through three
platforms including a mangrove education center, a field education site,
and the reserve website. A series of activities were held to increase
the public awareness including a photo competition, the 8th
Asian Wetland Celebration Week, development of a mangrove curriculum
with cooperation of MAP, appointment of 12 pilot schools in
environmental education etc.

Community co-management

ZMNNR
has tried community co-management in Gaoqiao where 4 villages were
selected as pilot villages to implement a community co-management plan.
ZMNNR funded the pilot villages in constructing cultural room and water
conservancy project etc. Living and production conditions of local
people were improved. Different groups and individuals got involved in
mangrove management by signing agreement with ZMNNR.

Center holds activities among villagers to raise their public awareness

External exchange and cooperation

From
2001 to 2005, ZMNNR successfully implemented a Sino-Dutch mangrove
project. In addition, 2 international exchange activities were held.
ZMNNR established a cooperative relation with several universities and
NGOs abroad such as University of Norway, the Wetland International etc.

2. Challenge faced by ZMNNR

2.1 Community co-management

ZMNNR
consisted of 68 protected areas and distributed along 1,500km coastal
line of Leizhou Peninsula. Difficulty was anticipated to effectively
manage natural resource in the reserve solely depending on the reserve
and its administrative staffs. Active participation of people living
adjacently in resource management was the most effective solution with a
realization of community co-management within the reserve.

2.2 Land tenure issue

ZMNNR
finished its boundary demarcation in 2005, and the demarcation only
clarified administrative scope and area of the reserve without
specifying jurisdiction. For the purpose of acquisition of exclusive
management right and usage right, there was a great need for ZMNNR to
obtain tenureship for the demarcated protection areas.

MANGROVE ISSUES

MANGROVE BOOK – J. Primavera
The book Beach Forests and Mangrove Associates in the Philippines by J.H. Pimavera and R.B. Sadaba (ISBN 978-971-9931-01-0; National Library CIP QK938.C6 581.75109599 2012 P220120602) is now available. aves, flowers, fruits, utilization and silviculture.SEE POSTER and order instructions

Note to Our Readers:We strive to keep active links in our newsletter. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, occassionally links to stories may become broken. If you find a link to a story is not functioning, please cut and paste the headline into your browser search bar. In most cases you should be able to locate the original story.

FEATURED STORYStudy Finds Economic, Environmental Costs Of Mangrove Destruction Higher Than Previously Believed
USA - Nearly 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere annually due to the continued destruction of coastal ecosystems, according to a recent report. The study, entitled Estimating Global ‘Blue Carbon’ Emissions from Conversion and Degradation of Vegetated Coastal Ecosystems”, was published this month by Duke University and examines the global and economic impacts of the loss of coastal-marine ecosystems that stored immense amounts of carbon. It finds that these devastated ecosystems caused $US 6-42 billion in economic damages and the emissions they released is equal to 3-19% of the emissions that comes from deforestation globally. “Up until this study, people didn’t realize how big of a potential emissions source blue carbon destruction – and the destruction of these coastal marine ecosystems – was,” says Duke University Research Professor and Director of Economic Analysis Brian Murray. Aside from a few finance mechanisms that use payments to preserve coastal ecosystems, the mangrove forests, salt marshes and seagrasses that make up Earth’s coastal ecosystems aren’t protected through economic incentives. Market forces give incentives to convert coastal habitat for agricultural and real estate purposes, the report says, and not for preservation. READ MORE

AFRICA

Guyana village women combine mangrove protection with small businesses
GUYANA - Women in a seaside village in Guyana, backed by government and European Union funding, are combining commercial activities like beekeeping and food processing with spreading the word on the importance of protecting their coastal mangroves. The women of Victoria, an east coast village, are taking part in the Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project, which currently generates only modest employment and income but has the potential, they believe, to produce good economic returns. Carlotta De Jesus, chairwoman of a body involved in the project, told Alertnet in October “I am also a tour guide and beekeeper. We teach people the various benefits of having the mangroves. They not only protect us from the sea but also provide a habitat for animals and fishes.” READ MORE

People power vs Big Oil
NIGERIA - In days, Nigeria's Parliament could approve a $5 billion fine against giant oil polluter Shell for a spill that devastated the lives of millions of people, and pass a law to hold all oil companies to account for polluting and plundering. This is a watershed moment, but unless we all speak out, oil giants will crush it. Finally, Big Oil is having to pay for the wasteland and violence that they’ve created. President Jonathan supports the Shell fine, and progressive Senators are pushing for strong regulations, but oil companies are slick, and without huge international support MPs could buckle under the pressure. Politicians are deciding their positions right now -- sign the urgent petition for the Nigerian Parliament to fine Shell and support the bill, and then forward this page to everyone -- when we hit a million signers we'll bring our unprecedented global call to the steps of Nigeria's Parliament. SIGN PETITION

ASIA

Sunderbans women turn crusaders to save mangrove
BANGLADESH - Battling climate change, hundreds of women from all over the fragile islands of Sunderbans have now turned into crusaders by guarding their hamlets with mangrove forests. Their husbands had once cleared these mangroves for firewood but now they realise that only the mangroves can act as sentinels against floods and cyclonic storms, the intensity and frequency of which has increased due to climate change. In Patharpratima block’s West Surendranagar village 30-year-old Anindita Das, who leads a women self-help group, finishes her household chores quickly in the morning and starts planting mangrove saplings bordering the banks of the river which had played havoc during the 2009 cyclonic storm Aila. Along with eight such self-help groups and funding from international NGO Save the Children, around 90 women in this village began by growing mangrove saplings in small nurseries close to their huts. READ MORE

Coasts, mudflats are vanishing, research shows
CHINA - Coastal aquaculture and land reclamation are swallowing about 61 percent of the country's natural shorelines and up to 33 percent of its mudflats, report shows. The shorelines and mudflats are important in preventing coastal erosion. The report, released by the State Oceanic Administration on Friday, said more shorelines and mudflats will disappear if no effective measures are taken to protect the country's fragile coastal environment. Guan Daoming, deputy director of the National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, said authorities should control human activities in coastal areas because such areas are important to the marine biological system. The maintenance of mudflats can help prevent coastal erosion, dilute pollutants and support a large population of wildlife such as mangrove forests and migratory birds, he said. Research shows that one hectare of mudflats can purify excess nitrogen and phosphorus from 100 hectares of farmland, which is the most effective way to filter out agricultural pollution and industrial sewage. READ MORE

EMS leaves trail of destruction in Asia
THAILAND - Could early mortality syndrome (EMS) - the latest shrimp disease to hit Asian shrimp producers China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand - be because of industrial pollution? That is the question president of Charoen Pokphand Group's Agro-industry and Foods business, Dr Chingchai Lohawatanakul posed to audiences at GOAL 2012. He made his case with a few examples: In the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula, in the state of Johor, 80 percent of shrimp have died from EMS. Johor is nearest to Singapore, home to the world’s biggest oil refinery capacity and one of the world’s busiest ports and ship repair yards. In another example, he said Thailand’s biggest industrial zone in the province of Rayong, the world’s 8 biggest petrochemical production area, had its first case of EMS. “Is EMS a symptom of industrial pollution and environmental degradation?” he asked. “We are waiting for answers as soon as possible." READ MORE

Mainstreaming Mangroves Regional Symposium in Southeast Asia
INDONESIA – A Regional Symposium on mangrove ecosystem management in Southeast Asia has been scheduled for Feb. 11-13, 2013, in Surabaya, East Jawa, Indonesia. Mangrove ecosystems are threatened by climate change. We review the state of knowledge of mangrove vulnerability and responses to predicted climate change and consider adaptation options, of all the climate change outcomes, relative sea-level rise may be the greatest threat to mangroves. Most mangrove sediment surface elevations are not keeping pace with sea-level rise, although longer term studies from a larger number of regions are needed. Rising Sea-level will have the greatest impact on mangroves experiencing net lowering in sediment elevation. Where there is limited area for landward migration. The Indian Oscan Pichavaram mangroves have been demonstrated to be at high risk substantial reductions. There is less certainty over other climate change outcomes and mangrove responses. More research is needed on assessment methods and standard indicators of change in response to effects from climate change, while regional monitoring networks are needed to observe these responses to enable educated adaptation measures can off set anticipates mangroves losses and improve resistance and resilience to climate change. READ MORE

Japan's ban of Indian shrimp a boon to Thai export
THAILAND - Thai shrimp exporters will enjoy a windfall as Japan has found ethoxyquin contamination in imports from India. "Shrimp exports from India have been banned because of the use of antibiotics, which Vietnam and China are also doing," said Somsak Praneetatyasai, president of the Thai Shrimp Association. Japan has toughened inspections of shrimp from Vietnam and China for ethoxyquin residue levels exceeding its limits. The problem has caused Japan to order more Thai shrimp. Shrimp farmers in Thailand use more pro-biotic medicine instead of antibiotics. Under Japan's standards, such residue in imported goods should not exceed 0.01 part per million in any shipment. Thailand's total shrimp exports will reach 350,000-360,000 tonnes this year. Both volume and value are estimated to drop by 10 per cent. Last year, the country sold 390,000-450,000 tonnes worth Bt100 billion overseas. READ MORE

Learning sustainable growth of mangroves
PAKISTAN - Renowned biologist and agriculturist Dr Ranjith Mahindapala from Sri Lanka conducted a two-day workshop for local coastal communities to help them learn proper management and sustainable growth of mangroves, a source of their livelihood. The workshop organized by Mangroves for the Future Programme was participated by 32 representatives of different community based organizations (CBOs) that are actively working along the coasts of Sindh and Balochistan. The event that concluded here on Friday evening was mainly focussed on training of the selected participants in project management and proposal writing. The purpose of the workshop was to equip the local CBOs so that they can address the needs of the coastal communities in a better manner, said Dr Mahindapala. READ MORE

AMERICAS

Central America estimated to lose $10b from greenhouse gasses
EL SALVADORE - A resident steers his canoe past mangroves at the small community of La Tirana, about 110 kilometres (68 miles) from San Salvador August 3, 2012. Because of its location as a thin strip of land between two oceans in a tropical zone, Central America is one of the regions most vulnerable to greenhouse gases. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimates that the area stands to lose $10 billion over the next four years for this reason alone. The damage is not confined to El Salvador, Central America's smallest country, but also its neighbours. Across the region, large tracts of mangroves have also been destroyed by the shrimp and hotel industry, the cultivation of palm oil and sugarcane, as well as salt fields. According to a FAO study, Central America's mangroves as a whole declined by 35 percent between 1980 and 2005 in terms of hectares. Honduran mangroves decreased by 56 percent, Nicaragua's forests by 37 percent and Panama by 32 percent. VIEW SOURCE

Protecting Brazil's Coastal Wetlands
BRAZIL - The potential effects of the conversion of 10% of the mangrove wetlands of northern Brazil resulting from national policy have been voiced in Science. The situation in reality may become much worse than envisaged. The northern coastal wetlands of Brazil are part of one of the world’s most continuous belts of mangrove forests, stretching for 2000 km from Brazil to Venezuela, over 1500 km of which forms a unique geological system characterized by the permanent recycling of fluid muds migrating alongshore from the Amazon, the link between mangroves and muds having contributed to the seaward growth of large coastal plain over the last 5000 years, while playing a very active role in the promotion and export of biosphere diversity at the world scale through geological time. Conversion into agricultural land and shrimp ponds has become rampant in Surinam and especially Guyana, and this can only be further compounded in the coming years by the policy change in Brazil.It is important recalling that mangroves offer efficient protection against waves and are major world carbon stores. The coming situation will endanger the ecological and defence functions assured by the unique association between mangroves and muds in South America. The rampant mangrove deforestation will result in fragmentation of this unique Amazon-dominated system. READ MORE

Cohen report calls for 8-year salmon farming ban
USA – The final report on Justice Bruce Cohen’s CAD 26 million investigation of British Columbia’s Fraser River sockeye salmon, shows no “smoking gun” for the 17-year decline of the stocks. “The Uncertain Future of Fraser River Sockeye” gives 75 recommendations to improve the future sustainability of the fishery. While the inquiry uncovered extensive information about potential causes for the decline of Fraser River sockeye, it also showed how much is still unknown about individual stressors as well as cumulative effects and delayed effects. Cohen also found that stressors specific to the Fraser River, as well as region-wide influences, may both have contributed to the long-term decline. Cohen said that further research is crucial to understanding the decline, especially in the areas of migratory and feeding patterns. Cohen recommended that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) no longer be responsible for promoting salmon farming as an industry and farmed salmon as a product. He concluded that salmon farms along the sockeye migration route in the Discovery Islands have the potential to introduce exotic diseases and to aggravate endemic diseases that can have a negative impact on Fraser River sockeye. READ MORE

Sockeye decline remains a mystery
CANADA - The final report on Justice Bruce Cohen’s $26 million investigation of British Columbia’s Fraser River sockeye salmon shows no “smoking gun” for the 17-year decline of the stocks, according to a conservation charity. Alfredo Quarto of the Mangrove Action Project (MAP) observes that “The Uncertain Future of Fraser River Sockeye” gives 75 recommendations to improve the future sustainability of the fishery. While the inquiry uncovered extensive information about potential causes for the decline of Fraser River sockeye, it also showed how much is still unknown about individual stressors as well as cumulative effects and delayed effects. Cohen also found that stressors specific to the Fraser River, as well as region-wide influences, may both have contributed to the long-term decline. Cohen said that further research is crucial to understanding the decline, especially in the areas of migratory and feeding patterns. READ MORE

Editors Note: Another reason that mangroves are so important to combat climate change. If we lose the mangroves, sea grass beds become degraded or die because of siltation and water turbidity caused by erosion. This both natural carbon storage systems are effectively decommissioned with resulting increase in carbon release as sea grasses and mangroves become sources rather than sinks.A copy of the abstract is posted below. For a copy of the paper please contact your library service or other sources.Seagrass ecosystems as a globally significant carbon stock
USA - The protection of organic carbon stored in forests is considered as an important method for mitigating climate change. Like terrestrial ecosystems, coastal ecosystems store large amounts of carbon, and there are initiatives to protect these ‘blue carbon’ stores. Organic carbon stocks in tidal salt marshes and mangroves have been estimated, but uncertainties in the stores of seagrass meadows—some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth—hinder the application of marine carbon conservation schemes. Here, we compile published and unpublished measurements of the organic carbon content of living seagrass biomass and underlying soils in 946 distinct seagrass meadows across the globe. Using only data from sites for which full inventories exist, we estimate that, globally, seagrass ecosystems could store as much as 19.9 Pg organic carbon; according to a more conservative approach, in which we incorporate more data from surface soils and depth-dependent declines in soil carbon stocks, we estimate that the seagrass carbon pool lies between 4.2 and 8.4 Pg carbon. We estimate that present rates of seagrass loss could result in the release of up to 299 Tg carbon per year, assuming that all of the organic carbon in seagrass biomass and the top metre of soils is remineralized.The first author, Prof Fourqurean, is based at the Department of Biological Sciences and Southeast Environmental Research Center, Marine Science Program, Florida International University, 3000 NE 151, St, North Miami, Florida 33181, USA

Editors Note: This reasearch may answer a burning question we have concerning the safety of eating wild caught shrimp from the Gulf Coast. The oil spill could not have happened at a worse time for us, as we were just starting to promote the US wild caught shrimp, much of which comes from the Gulf of Mexico, as a good alternative to imported shrimp.Researchers will take a deep look at Gulf seafood safety
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USA - The Macondo well blowout on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico lays bare just how little scientists know about that great expanse of saltwater and its creatures, but in fishing communities from Florida to Louisiana, some people have vital questions of their own. Could hydrocarbons from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion be building up in people through the seafood they commonly eat - brown shrimp, white shrimp, oysters, blue crab, redfish, speckled trout and mackerel - and what does it mean if they are? "Right now, all we have is the FDA recommendation of two 3-ounce servings a week. But these are fishing communities," says Sharon Petronella Croisant, an epidemiologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch and director of the Community-Based Research Facility affiliated with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. At a research consortium centered in Galveston, scientists, together with a colleague in Philadelphia, are recruiting 100 people each from three especially seafood-dependent Gulf Coast communities in Mississippi and Louisiana, and another 100 from Galveston. Those in the study will be asked to give blood and urine samples. Scientists also hope to add 10 pregnant women each year who will give breast milk and umbilical cord blood once they deliver. The researchers are looking for the family of compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which dissolve in fat and have the potential to be stored in human fat, sometimes with harmful consequences. READ MORE

Mangroves are not mercantile goods
GUATEMALA - Henry Bonilla of Mangrove Network International cries "No REDD". Climate change has led to drastic changes in fragile ecosystems such as mangroves, dramatically affecting thousands of fishermen and farmer communities on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. REDD initiatives, meanwhile, are also a threat to communities living in the mangrove. This was stated by Real World Radio Henry Bonilla, a member of the International Mangrove Network, after participating in the International Conference on Climate Change, and Social Movements Territories organized by Friends of the Earth and MOVIAC in San Salvador, El Salvador, at the beginning of this week. Bonilla said the expansion of fuel crops, especially sugarcane, has meant the diversion of rivers and therefore the destruction of mangroves massively displacing coastal populations. In fact, Guatemala is currently the fourth largest exporter of sugar trade is in the hands of large transnational corporations and agribusiness, he said. The mangrove biodiversity based on the natural mixture of salt and fresh water, represents an ecosystem rich in food production. "The mangrove is life and not merely goods..." summed Bonilla. READ MORE (Spanish Language)

LAST WORD

Here is a more positive news story also from the China Daily:Barren no more
A group of villagers has managed to cultivate more than 300,000 trees in an effort to rejuvenate Eyuyu Island, a barren plot of land, off Xiamen in Fujian province. When they found the island in the 1980s, there were only five trees. At that time, they were a bigger crowd but the majority decided to turn their backs on the "hopeless" land. Only a few persevered to bring life to the deserted plot and their efforts have paid off. VIEW PHOTOS

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